White House suspends press pass of CNN's Jim Acosta after his testy exchange with Trump

WASHINGTON – The White House suspended the press credentials of CNN reporter Jim Acosta on Wednesday, hours after President Donald Trump took issue with questions Acosta asked at a news conference.

The move to punish Acosta by removing his access to the White House is believed to be unprecedented. The Trump administration barred another CNN reporter from attending an open media event in July but until now has not gone as far as removing a credential, known as a “hard pass,” which enables a journalist to enter the White House grounds.

As President Donald Trump points to CNN’s Jim Acosta, a White House aide takes the microphone from him during a news conference in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2018, in Washington.Evan Vucci/AP

During the 90-minute session at the White House, Trump snapped at Acosta after the reporter asked whether the president had “demonized immigrants” by calling a caravan of Central American migrants “an invasion.” After a lengthy and tense back-and-forth, a female White House intern tried to take the microphone from Acosta.

Acosta held onto it and raised an arm to shield it, in the process making contact with the aide. “Pardon me, ma’am,” he told the woman.

After their exchange, Trump told Acosta: “CNN should be ashamed of itself having you working for them. You are a rude, terrible person. You shouldn’t be working for CNN. You’re a very rude person. The way you treat Sarah Huckabee is horrible. And the way you treat other people are horrible. You shouldn’t treat people that way.”

President Donald Trump answers a question from CNN journalist Jim Acosta during a news conference in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2018, in Washington.Evan Vucci/AP

On Wednesday night, Sanders accused Acosta of “placing his hands on a young woman” and said it was on those grounds that Acosta’s press pass was being suspended.

“President Trump believes in a free press and expects and welcomes tough questions of him and his Administration,” Sanders said in a statement. “We will, however, never tolerate a reporter placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern. This conduct is absolutely unacceptable. It is also completely disrespectful to the reporter’s colleagues not to allow them an opportunity to ask a question.”

Video of the exchange showed otherwise. On Twitter, Acosta responded to the press secretary’s statement with, simply: “This is a lie.”

The White House Correspondents’ Association called the White House’s reaction “out of line to the purported offense” and urged that Acosta’s press pass be restored.

Appearing on CNN, Acosta told host Anderson Cooper on Wednesday evening that he was “just trying to ask a question of the president.”

He added: “I didn’t put my hands on her or touch her, as the White House is alleging. I do think, Anderson, that this is a test for all of us. I think they’re trying to shut us down. I think they’re trying to send a message to my colleagues.”

Acosta said he learned that his access was denied from a text message he received on his phone. When he went to the White House for “one last live shot,” he said a security officer prevented him from passing through an entrance he has used for the past five years.

I never thought that in this country I wouldn't be able to cover the president of the United States just for asking a question

“I never thought that in this country I wouldn’t be able to cover the president of the United States just for asking a question,” he said.

In a statement Wednesday night, CNN accused the White House of retaliating against Acosta because of his questions.

“In an explanation, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders lied,” the network stated. “She provided fraudulent accusations and cited an incident that never happened. This unprecedented decision is a threat to our democracy and the country deserves better. Jim Acosta has our full support.”

The network also tweeted a video of the interaction “for the world to see.”

Sanders later tweeted a short clip of the interaction, writing: “We stand by our decision.”

Matt Dornic, CNN’s vice president of communications, responded by sharing a fuller video clip, writing: “You manipulated this video. The lies never end.”

We stand by our decision to revoke this individual’s hard pass. We will not tolerate the inappropriate behavior clearly documented in this video. pic.twitter.com/T8X1Ng912y

Despite video, right-wing personalities continued to spread online the false allegation that Acosta had been seen “pushing and shoving a female White House aide.” A HuffPost reporter noted that the brief video shared by Sanders was made by an editor from Infowars, the site led by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

Acosta has been one of the most outspoken reporters covering the White House over the last two years, in which he has become a favorite target of insults lobbed by Trump’s supporters, particularly at the president’s raucous rallies.

“I think I’m just covering a story, honestly,” Acosta said in a 2017 interview with The Post about his reporting style. “When the president of the United States calls the press ‘fake news’ and ‘the enemy of the American people,’ ” he added, “I think that’s when you have to get tough and ask the hard questions.”

Donald Trump points to journalist Jim Acosta, centre left, during a post-election press conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC on November 7, 2018.MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

After news of Acosta’s press pass suspension broke, numerous journalists came to his defense. Jeff Mason, the former president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, said he was seated next to Acosta at the news conference and that Sanders’s characterization of what happened was false.

“(I) did not witness him ‘placing his hands’ on the young intern, as the White House alleges,” Mason tweeted. “He held on to the microphone as she reached for it.”

The Washington Post’s Lindsey Bever contributed to this report.

In this file photo CNN chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta is seen before a briefing by White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC on October 3, 2018.MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

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